I'm not sure if I should put my teacher hat back on for these two occurrences in Minnesota or not. One involves what I consider reverse segregation and the other is exclusion of white allies and LGBT individuals from a

New Minnesota guidelines for K-12 schools are mandating public schools to “segregate” students who object to transgender locker rooms and bathrooms to foster inclusion of “gender nonconforming” and transgender people.

The goal is to create safe environments for transgender and gender nonconforming students where they feel supported, included, and are treated and educated equally.

Students that are uncomfortable with the new rules will need to be "segregated."

Privacy objections raised by a student in interacting with a transgender or gender nonconforming student may be addressed by segregating the student raising the objection provided that the action of the school officials does not result in stigmatizing the transgender and gender nonconforming student.

What is assisting Minnesota to set up these segregation policies? It's actually a policy against segregation.

Title IX and the Minnesota Human Rights Act declare that it is an unfair discriminatory to deny any student the full and equal enjoyment of any educational institution such as a public school. Schools ensure full and equal enjoyment of public accommodations for students where they are not stigmatized or segregated from the rest of the general student population exercising their right to the public accommodation.

The new Minnesota rules also bring up Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and that not using correct pronouns may be a legal issue. Casual use of a student’s incorrect pronoun or incorrect name may violate FERPA.

Going from k-12 to the University of Minnesota, another situation makes us ask, is this the right thing to do?

The University of Minnesota is advising straight white students not to attend a discussion program named “Tongues Untied”, claiming it is exclusively for “People of Color who identify who identify as LGBTQIA and/or Same-Gender-Loving.”

For our allies: we do appreciate your voices and commitment to dismantling racism and homophobia; however, please note that this is a space created for LGBTQIA and/or same-gender-loving people of color.

What are your thoughts?

Should a public tax funded institution have organizations that do not allow certain students to participate?